To be enthusiastic is to show “intense and eager enjoyment, interest, or approval.” In the original Greek, it mean to be inspired or possessed by a God and was used as an insult to describe excessive religious zeal. I’m glad it got taken over and adapted. Enthusiasm, and the quality of being enthusiastic, is something I very much enjoy. To be tepid or half-hearted about … Continue reading All is Calm, All is Bright: Enthusiasm
Wonder. I think Wonder is the emotion that runs through Christmas the most for children. Everything about the season is designed to create wonder, both in a secular and religious sense. Imagine being a five-year-old and finding out the the magic of Santa… that he gives presents to all the boys and girls around the world, that he has flying reindeer, that he lives in … Continue reading All is Calm, All is Bright: Wonder
Choco-lit Reading, for me, is that branch of romance novels that sits well alongside a big mug of tea and a bar of something sweet. Chocolate, for preference, but a decent slice of cake or a couple of biscuits works well. It’s sometimes sneered at by the well-read Literati, including one writer whose work I admire, who wrote this weekend ” Book Title Trends I … Continue reading My Christmas Choco-lit Reading List
It’s here again, that time of year when savvy shopkeepers up the sales factor and people start labelling items with tags to increase their saleability. Random objects get labelled on Amazon as ‘Great Christmas Gift’ or ‘Perfect for Winter’. In the last few years, items have been labelled as ‘Ideal for Hygge’. If anybody ever tells you that you should get X, Y or Z … Continue reading If somebody tells you to buy something to boost your hygge, tell them to take a running jump.
It’s properly Autumn now, with chilly mornings that brighten into golden showered days when the Sun smiles with a last gasp of heat. Days when the sky flashes between the blue of a robin’s eggs into a silver streaked grey that lowers and threatens to rain. In the countryside, nature’s harvest falls thick and fast, with conkers, acorns, beech nuts and seeds aplenty scattered along … Continue reading Ten Easy Ways to Pamper Yourself in Autumn for Around £10
It’s a peculiar thing about my life that Wednesday seems to be my spinning tops day. You know what I mean, the day when everything happens or seems to creep up and you spend the day in a tizzy wondering what to do next, or following a list that you had the foresight to write out the night before and getting three entries in before … Continue reading Spinning tops? No, I prefer spinning wool.
I’ve been browsing quotes about Autumn, and September, October and November as I get the next edition of Cosy Happy Hygge ready to go. There are so many to choose from… and not all of them nice. There is nothing in this world that unites everybody: that’s human nature. Say you like chocolate and most people will nod and agree, but there’s always somebody stood … Continue reading Oh, Autumn, how I love thee!
Wait… it’s September on Saturday? How did that happen? Only a couple of weeks ago I was complaining there was ages until September and open season on pumpkin spiced whatevers. I was anticipating having plenty of time to get the gold and red decorations out, the slow cooker out of hibernation and the jumpers onto the back of the door ready to slip into as … Continue reading A September of #smallthings
